Ken Swedberg US Navy USS Ward |
I joined the Naval Reserve 47th Division 11th Naval Battalion in St. Paul, Minnesota on February, 1938. I was 17 years old and a student at Johnson High School. At this time many young men were joining the service and many of my buddies also joined the Naval Reserve. We drilled every Monday night at the Minnesota Boat Club on the banks of the Mississippi River. Our division had approximately 100 men as did the 48th Division which met on Tuesday nights. We also trained on the YP Ramsey, a 60 foot Naval vessel assigned to our battalion. We also participated in local parades. Our annual summer cruise on the Great Lakes was our big event, our boot camp afloat. None of the 85 men who were called to active duty on January 23, 1941, had gone to an official Navy boot camp. In July of 1938, 150 men from the 47th and 48th Division traveled by train to Duluth, Minnesota to board the USS Paducah, Ex. P.G. 19 built in 1905. The Paducah was originally a coal burner converted to oil and had one engine, a vertical triple-expansion. We cruised on the Paducah in 1939 and 1940, carefree and having a good time. In the fall of 1940, we sensed our country was arming for war. The draft numbers were chosen October 31, 1940 and men were drafted into the military. I was 19 years old but had not registered for the draft because of my naval reserve status. The 47th Division was now organized as a ship's crew. When the call came for the 47th to active Naval duty, the destroyer crews were partially trained in each of our rated specialties and in my case as a fireman in the boiler room. Eighty five men left St. Paul, Minnesota on a cold 20 degree below zero winter night. Some men were excused for personal reasons and as only 85 men were needed, we were a select group. We boarded a train from the St. Paul depot on January 23, 1941. Four days later, on January 27, we were in San Diego and then taken by bus to the destroyer base. We lived in base housing there and on February 6, we moved on board the USS Ward, with Capt. Lt. Hunter Wood. The Ward was recommissioned February 11 and left San Diego February. 24. She arrived on Mare Island, San Francisco, on February 26, departed February 28 and headed for Hawaii, arriving there March 6, 1941. We were assigned to inshore and offshore patrol duties with the USS Allen, Chew and Schley, WWI four stack destroyers. We were under command of Rear Admiral Block, Commandant 14th Naval District, Hawaiian Islands. We performed patrol, escort and target duties. On Friday, December 5, 1941, Captain William W. Outerbridge, Lt. USN, replaced Captain Hunter Wood, Lt. Cmdr. USN. We left our moorage at Pearl Harbor on Friday morning and relieved the Schley and resumed offshore patrol. On Saturday, December 6, 1941, we had general quarter drills. I was now a Fireman 1st Class, equal to deck rating, 3rd class petty officer, with a new battle station on the 3. single 23 gun. This gun was on the bow behind the 4"/50 single. There were four 4"/50 single main battery guns. The 3" gun was our only anti-aircraft gun in addition to a 50 caliber machine gun. This was my first drill on this gun. At 3:45 AM on December 7, 1941, I had just arrived at No. 1 fire room to stand my regular 4-8 AM watch when General Quarters alarm sounded. The USS Condor, one of four minesweepers on patrol, had spotted a submarine close by and notified the Ward by blinker light. After my relief came, I went to my newly assigned General Quarters battle station as gunner on the 3"23 A.A. gun (I was to sight and fire the gun). It was the only gun manned by members of the "black gang," or engineers. Dave Morgan, WT 1/c was phone talker; Tom Nadeau, 1st shell man; Maury Hurley, hot shell man; Bob and Ed Zechmann, ammunition handlers. We were secured from General Quarters and I went back to the fire room to stand my regular watch. At 6:30 AM, it was starting to get light out. General Quarters was sounded again and we were back to our battle stations. The USS Antares, a supply ship with barge in tow from Palmyra Island had approached the anti-sub net gate. Ward lookout H. E. Raeubig spotted what looked like a black buoy in wake of the Antares' stern. Raeubig notified Officer of the Deck Lt. Oscar Goepner who immediately called Captain Outerbridge. They decide the object is more like a submarine conning tower. A PBY float plane above was on morning patrol and began to circle the object and determined it to be a submarine. The PBY then dropped a smoke bomb marker. The Ward closed in on the submarine, making 15-18 knots. Captain Outerbridge first thought of ramming the submarine but then decided to attack by gunfire. We were on a collision course with the submarine, coming up fast. At the right moment we turned to the left or port and there, about 100 yards off our starboard (right) bow, was the midget submarine moving very slowly. No. 1-4" bow gun fired 1 shell but shot over the conning tower. I believe with the fast turn to port it raised the starboard side of the ship and these 4" guns were not made to fire at close range and could not depress lower. No. 3 gun atop the galley deck house now was sighting on target and her gunners put a 4" shell through the submarine conning tower which was less than 50 yards away. The sub started to submerge. We slowed but were still coming up close to 50 feet and crossed over the bow of the sub. The Ward dropped 4 depth charges in a diamond pattern. The PBY now also dropped a depth charge. We sent a message by radio to the Commandment on shore at Pearl that we had attacked, fired upon and dropped depth charges on a submarine operating in a defensive sea area. We received a message back-"confirm". We repeated the message and added, "by gunfire", but received no further comment. The time was now 6:53 AM on December 7, 1941. About 7:00 AM, our lookouts spotted a small sampan-type boat towing a dinghy close to shore in this same defensive sea area. Another violator! We steamed closer to shore and fired a burst of 50 caliber machine gun to stop the boat. A man came on deck waving his white shirt on an oar. We notified the Coast Guard in Honolulu Harbor and they sent a patrol boat which took him in to Honolulu. Later we learned that 5 midget submarines had been released from their mother subs around Maui at midnight and possibly this sampan boat was loaded with radio gear and could have given the Ward's location. We also learned that 3 midget subs did get past us and 2 or 3 possibly were able to enter the harbor but all were sunk by gunfire or ramming. We continued our patrol, still on General Quarters and sounding for more subs. On December 7, 1941, at 7:25 AM, the Commandant's office ordered the Destroyer ready duty" Monaghan to get under way to investigate sub contact by the Ward. The Monaghan received the message at 7:51 AM. At 7:55 AM, the Japanese air attack begins. The Ward is close to the harbor entrance. We saw planes at a distance and Captain Outerbridge remarked, "those must be Admiral Halsey's planes from the Enterprise." The Enterprise was 200 miles west and he thought it was coming back to Pearl from Midway. The Captain said, "they always put on a show when the carriers come back." Our carrier planes usually landed on Ford Island. Soon we heard explosions, followed by fire and smoke. Then we saw the rising sun on the plane wings and we knew they were Japanese planes. We now began hunting for more submarines. By 11 AM the Ward had dropped 35 depth charges. At 8:15 AM, two Japanese planes came after the Ward. We started to zigzag. I received the order to fire. As I trained the gun on one plane and pulled the trigger, nothing happened. We phoned that the gun did not fire!! Three gunners' mates and the chief gunner's mate, W. Mayer, adjusted the firing pin and tried 2 shells, before one fired. The two Japanese planes each dropped a bomb, one on each side-but they missed and the planes left. We saw the Monaghan coming out of the harbor with her anti-aircraft guns firing. This broke off the 2 planes after us. The Monaghan was a new destroyer and equipped with better guns than the Ward. We were happy to see her with us. At 9 AM, our B-17 bombers began arriving looking for a place to land. They came from California but had no ammunition for their guns as they were going to the Philippines and only were stopping for gas. At this time anything flying was a target. We could not identify or trust anything! I did manage to fire one shot but the target was a B-17 that I was directed to fire at. Fortunately I missed. We did not even know what kind of shells we were firing!!. We didn't know if they were practice shells, star-shells or real anti aircraft shells. We only used what we were given by one of the gunner's mates. The B-17's left us for friendlier skies and looked for a safe place to land. After the air attack was over, our sonar men reported more submarine soundings-so we kept dropping depth charges. These were like a 30 gallon barrel in size with a pistol or a 10 long timer. They set these to go off 100 feet. This would cause a geyser-like column of water to rise 10-15 feet in the air. Our speed had to be at least 20-25 knots to avoid vibration to our ship during depth charge attacks on submarines. They were set to go under the subs. By 11 AM, we had dropped most of our depth charges, close to 40. We asked permission to enter West Loch which was a natural bay or loch were all the fleet's ammunition was stored. We needed to take on more depth charges. The loch was separated from the rest of the harbor and the ships. We were refused entrance. We finally did enter at 2 PM. Then we saw the devastation. There was oil burning on the water ships burning. Some ships were on their side. The Utah was completely turned over. The Nevada got underway but was beached so as not to block the channel. It was a good thing the Japanese missed West Loch as our fleet would have had to turn to the mainland for ammunition for their guns. From official records, there were 27 Japanese fleet submarines in Hawaiian waters that morning circling Oahu, five of which carried the 80 foot long midget submarines. It was a busy morning for the Ward. These subs no doubt were waiting to sink any of our ships that were able to leave the harbor. That night we all slept by our guns or topside, thinking that if a torpedo hit us, we would at least be blown into the sea. We always wore our life jackets along with a WWI steel helmet and we continued our patrol duty for another week. The Ward remained on the same duty with the Chew, Schley and Allen. Extra duty included escort and screening duty of larger ships, cruisers, supply ships. Ward served as target ship for our carrier planes, especially the torpedo bombers. Planes would drop their torpedoes at us all set to go deep under our keel. What a sight to see the "fish" come at us and go underneath us! After they ran out of "steam," we would retrieve them. They had dummy heads and no explosives. Ward remained in Hawaiian waters until December 13, when we sailed for Bremerton, Washington. On December 24, 1942, we entered Puget Sound Navy Yard for overhaul and conversion to Armed Personnel Transport (APD-16). We sailed to back to Hawaii February 13, 1943 and arrived at Pearl Harbor on February 24, 1943. The Ward then entered the South Pacific, landing 200 troops of Marines and soldiers at 14 island invasions. Her last invasion action was on December 7, 1944, in Ormoc Bay, Leyte Gulf, Philippine Islands. After she unloaded her troops, the Ward headed for anti-submarine patrol when 3 Betty twin engine bombers attacked her. The Ward's guns shot down 2 of the planes but the third one, on a kamikaze dive, crashed into her empty troop compartment, setting the Ward on fire. She lost all power with no pumps to put out the fire. They had to abandon ship. The order to sink the Ward came from the USS O'Brien, a DD whose Captain was then William W. Outerbridge, who had been Captain of the Ward on December 7, 1941. The Ward was sunk to prevent her own ammunition from exploding. The Japanese could not touch her on December 7, 1941, when they attacked Pearl Harbor, but succeeded in sinking her on December 7, 1944, three years to the day later. Of the original 85 Naval Reservists from St. Paul, Minnesota, 14 men remained on board the Ward at the time of her sinking. There were no casualties. All 85 men returned home and ultimately formed the "First Shot Naval Vets," a group still active today. I am currently Vice President. I left the Ward by transfer on February 23, 1943, with my buddy Tom Nadeau, a fellow Naval Reservist WT 2/c, from St. Paul, Minnesota. We both transferred to the USS Salt Lake City-CA 25 and stayed on the Salt Lake City until the end of the war in September, 1945. The Salt Lake City left Pearl Harbor for the Aleutian Islands on March 15, 1943, with two destroyers, the Bailey and the Coghland. We joined the light cruiser Richmond with her destroyers Dale and Monaghan. On March 25, 1943, we intercepted a Japanese Naval force in the process of supplying troops to the Island of Attu, the western island in the Aleutian chain. We ran into a Japanese force twice our size at that time and the battle of the Komandorski Islands began-the longest running battle in Naval history (4 hours long). After our initial attack we were forced to "turn and run." The five sister ships were faster than we were so the Salt Lake City was hit with many 8" shells. We lost power as a Japanese 8" shell hit an oil tank and sea water entered oil lines to our boilers. Our steam pressure dropped, our turbines stopped and we were "dead in the water." The water was 34 degrees F. Only after the destroyers Bailey and Coghland put a smoke screen around us and made a torpedo attack on the Japanese did they turn and break off the battle. The Salt Lake City limped into Dutch Harbor with an 8 list, temporarily patched and left for ship repair at San Francisco. Then to Tarawa where we pounded the island with 8" shells before the Marines landed, then on to the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, bombarding Iwo Jima and finally Okinawa. We participated in 7 Naval battles from Tarawa to Iwo Jima, Philippines and Okinawa. After the atomic bomb was dropped we were again in the Aleutians. I was then promoted to WT 1C and had passed my exam for Chief Water Tender. I turned down the promotion because the war was over and as a Naval Reservist I was scheduled to return home on the first draft. Therefore, I left my chief's cap in the Navy. I told them to give the promotion to a regular Navy man. I received credit for 7 battle engagement stars for my 2-1/2 years on the Salt Lake City. I left August 25, 1945, at Adak Islands in the Aleutians and returned to Seattle, then by train back to Minneapolis, Minnesota where I was honorably discharged on October 4, 1945, with the rank of Water Tender 1st Class. After returning to St. Paul, I enrolled at Dunwoody Industrial Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota and studied power plant engineering. After graduation, I became Asst. Chief Engineer of the St. Paul Water Utility and then advanced to Chief Engineer and Supervisor of Pumping for the City of Saint Paul and suburbs. I retired in 1984. My wife, Donna and I have resided in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas for the winter months but also have a condo in St. Paul, Minnesota for the summer months. I am a Life Member of Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and currently serve as Secretary and Treasurer of Chapter #11, Rio Grande Valley, Texas PHSA. |
Kenneth C. Swedberg DOB: 1/24/1921 Service Dates: 2/1938 - 10/1945 Military Career: USS Ward 1/1941-2/1943; USS Salt Lake City 2/1943-8/1945; Eight battle stars; First Class Water Tender; aboard USS Ward on 12/7/1941; sunk Japanese midget sub by gunfire one hour before planes attacked Pearl Harbor; involved in battle of Komandorskie Island 3/26/1943 while on the USS Salt Lake City. Civilian Career: Graduate of Dunwoody Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Power Plant Engineering; employed for 36 years at St. Paul Water Utility, Chief Engineer and Pumping Supervisor; Vice President, First Shot Naval Vets., St. Paul, honoring USS Ward group. Family: Wife Donna, two daughters, one son, and six grandchildren. Remarks: Served as Treasurer of this PHSA, Chapter 11. |
Link to more information regarding Mr. Swedberg as well as to the Rio Grande Valley, Texas - Pearl Harbor Survivor Association. |
Information provided by Ken Swedberg. |
